Integrated elastomeric article manufacturing system and process

ABSTRACT

Described are systems, devices, and methods for stripping a formed thin film elastomeric article such as a latex or synthetic polymer medical or surgical glove from a mold, inverting the article, and transferring and securing the inverted article to a mandrel for further on-line processing, integrating dip forming and off-line surface treatment processes into a single, continuous on-line process. The system can include a stripping apparatus including an actuation device for peeling the article from the mold and inverting the article, and a donning device to receive the inverted article. The system may position the article about a mandrel of the donning device. The mandrel may expand or separate to engage the interior of the inverted article to securely hold the article on the mandrel. The donning device may be coupled to a continuous loop conveyor chain to carry the donning device and the mounted article through on-line secondary processing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. Non-provisional patentapplication Ser. No. 14/941,539 filed on Nov. 14, 2015, now U.S. Pat.No. 10,092,047, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional applicationNo. 62/079,433 filed on Nov. 13, 2014.

BACKGROUND

At present, the manufacture of certain elastomeric and polymer latexarticles (such as surgical or examination gloves used in hospitals andother medical facilities, work gloves, prophylactics, catheters,balloons, etc.) typically involves two major processes, namely theon-line glove dipping or forming platform process (also known as theprimary manufacturing process) and off-line processing (also known asthe secondary manufacturing process).

In the dipping or forming platform process, for example, surgical glovesmay be formed by one of two methods. One such method is a batch dipprocess, in which one or more molds (also referred to as formers) aredipped into one or more tanks containing liquid molding material (suchas natural latex or synthetic polymers such as polyisoprene, nitrilerubber, vinyl, polyvinylchloride, polychloroprene, or polyurethane) orvarious other chemicals (such as coagulant). The second method is acontinuous dip method, which is the most common, economical, andefficient method for high-volume glove manufacturing.

In a typical continuous dip process, such as that used in themanufacture of surgical gloves, a continuous loop conveyor chain carriesthe glove molds through the necessary cleaning, dipping, curing, andstripping processes. After a formed glove is stripped from a mold, theconveyor chain carries the mold back to the beginning of the cleaningprocess to begin a new cycle. Thus, the molds are utilized in acontinuous cyclic manner. To increase efficiency, the conveyor chainmoves continuously and at a constant speed throughout the continuousdipping process. Specialized equipment is required to conduct thevarious processes on the gloves as they are constantly traveling throughthe manufacturing facility. The initial stage of the dipping platformprocess typically includes the cleaning of the molds, as a clean moldsurface is important for forming a quality glove. These clean molds arethen carried by the conveyor chain through the coagulant dip process. Asthe molds continue to traverse laterally along with the conveyor chain,the molds are lowered into, and subsequently raised out of, a coagulantsolution contained in an elongated dip tank. After the coagulant dip,the conveyor chain carries the coagulant-coated molds through a secondtank containing the liquid molding material, such as latex. Thecoagulant coatings typically include salts that neutralize thesurfactants in the liquid molding material emulsions, and which locallydestabilize the liquid molding material, thus causing it to gel (orcoalesce) and adhere as a film on the surface of the mold. The molds maybe dipped in liquid molding material one or more times to achieve thedesired glove thickness. The glove may then be dipped into a leachingtank containing circulating hot water to remove the water-solublecomponents, such as salts used in the coagulant solution or certainproteins present in the natural latex.

After the glove is formed, it undergoes a drying process in a dryingoven to dry the thin gel layer prior to a high-temperature curingprocess to set and vulcanize the thin gelatinized film onto the moldsurface. One or more additional layers, coatings or treatments may beformed or applied to the external surface of the formed glove, eitherbefore, after, or between drying and curing. For example, the externallayer of the thin film, which typically becomes the user side (alsoknown as the interior or donning side), may be coated with a donningcomposition or otherwise treated to make donning of the glove easier.

Typically, the final stage of the continuous dipping platform process isthe stripping (i.e., removal) of the glove from its mold prior to themold looping back to the mold cleaning process. Conventionally, theglove removal process is performed by a human operator manuallystripping the gloves (with or without the aid of machines) or, incertain cases, using an automated stripping machine to strip the glovesfrom the molds. This process can result in significant waste if thegloves are not stripped properly. Molded gloves tend to adhere to thesurface of the mold, such that the gloves must be gently peeled off ofthe mold. If they are pulled from the mold too quickly, with too muchforce, or if they are gripped such that too much stress is concentratedat the gripped points, the gloves can be punctured, torn, or otherwisecompromised. Typically, because the cuff edge of the glove is peeledfrom the mold forst, and because the palm and finger areas of the gloveadhere to the mold until they are peeled oft the glove becomes invertedor reversed as it is stripped from the mold such that the externalsurface of the glove after forming (i.e., the donning side) becomes theinternal surface after stripping. However, as described below, thedonning side typically requires off-line surface treatment afterstripping, so the stripped gloves must be reversed or inverted afterstripping to revert the donning side to the exterior surface. Manual andautomated inverting processes typically employ suction or bursts of airto assist with fully inverting the glove.

Upon the completion of the on-line dipping process in the dippingplatform, the thin film surgical gloves are typically still not finishedproducts. After stripping from the molds, the gloves may undergo severalsteps of an off-line glove surface treatment process. For example, thegloves may be subjected to an off-line chlorination process, which mayinvolve chlorination, lubrication, and tumble drying prior to invertingthe glove such that the donning side becomes the interior surface beforethe gloves are packaged. These off-line processes often require severalpieces of equipment (namely, chemical treatment equipment such as achlorinator, etc.), an extractor, a tumbling machine, a dryer machine,and/or miscellaneous supporting equipment. Additionally, the off-lineequipment is configured to process the gloves in batches, which requiresthat the formed gloves coming off of the dipping process line betemporarily stored in a queue, which consumes time and physical storagespace, to wait for the batch processing equipment to become available.processes are substantial manual operation may also be necessary tooperate these pieces of equipment, load and unload the gloves, transferthe gloves and complete these off-line processes prior to packaging thesurgical gloves as finished products.

SUMMARY

Certain aspects of the present disclosure are directed toward systems,devices, and methods for stripping a formed thin film elastomericarticle from a mold, inverting the article, transferring the article toa mandrel, and securing the inverted article to the mandrel for furtheron-line processing, thus integrating the dip forming process and theexisting off-line surface treatment process into a single, continuouson-line manufacturing process (i.e., on-line dip forming, primarysurface treatment, inverting, and secondary surface treatment process).This integration will greatly reduce the dependency on human operatorsto perform the above-noted tasks, reduce the process cycle time,eliminate the dependency of the off-line equipment/process, lead tospace reduction and eliminate miscellaneous equipment handling andmaintenance tasks. In certain aspects, the systems, devices, and methodsof the present disclosure are suitable for manufacturing elastomericgloves, such as latex or synthetic polymer medical exam gloves andsurgical gloves. It will be appreciated that adaptation of the systems,devices, and methods to provide similar advantages in the manufacture ofvarious other thin film elastomeric articles, such as prophylactics,catheters, balloons, work gloves etc., is well within the capabilitiesof ordinarily skilled artisans.

In certain aspects, the system can include a stripping apparatus forremoving formed gloves from the molds or formers on which they areformed. The stripping apparatus can include a cuff rolling device forrolling the cuff of the glove down (i.e., distally away from the moldbase and toward the finger and palm areas of the glove) to expose aportion of the cuff-forming surface of the mold. The stripping apparatuscan include a gripping device having one or more gripping membersconfigured to engage the exposed portion of the cuff-forming surface ofthe mold. The stripping apparatus can include a roll-back device forunrolling the previously rolled portion of the glove cuff proximallytoward the mold base and away from the glove finger and palm areas. Theroll-back device can be configured to unroll the rolled cuff over andonto a portion of the gripping members such that the gripping membersare interposed between the mold surface and at least a portion of theunrolled glove cuff. The stripping apparatus can include a liftingdevice for lifting the gripping members away from the surface of themold, thereby separating a portion of the glove cuff area from the moldsurface. The stripping apparatus can include an actuation device formoving the gripping members distally away from the mold base to pull orpeel the glove away from the mold surface. The actuation device may movethe gripping members to a position distal of the finger area to fullyremove the glove from the mold, and thereby at least partially invertthe glove.

In certain aspects, the system can include a glove donning deviceconfigured to receive the glove after it has been stripped from themold. The system may be configured to move the gripping members of thestripping apparatus over or around a mandrel of the glove donning deviceto position the glove about one or more holding members of the mandrel,which holding members are configured to expand or separate to engage theinterior surface of the inverted glove (i.e., the surface of the glovethat was formed adjacent to the mold surface) to securely hold the gloveon the mandrel of the glove donning device. The gripping members can beconfigured to release the gripped portion of the glove when the glove ispositioned about the glove donning device. The glove donning device canbe coupled to a continuous looped conveyor chain to carry the glovedonning device (and the glove disposed thereon) through one or moreon-line secondary processes. Accordingly, the system can strip theformed glove from the mold, invert the glove, and position and hold(i.e., mount) the glove on the glove donning device for subsequenton-line processing.

In certain aspects, the system is configured to move continuously andsynchronize with the existing continuous dipping line speed tocontinuously strip, invert, and mount gloves formed by the dip formingprocess onto glove donning devices for subsequent on-line processing. Incertain aspects, the gripping members are coupled to mechanical armsthat are guided through translation, expansion, and contraction by oneor more cam follower bearings. In certain aspects the glove donningdevice is expanded and contracted (i.e., opened and closed) bymechanical arms controlled by a cam follower bearing guided by a camtrack to move the mechanical arms toward and away from each other.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure are directed toward a methodof manufacturing elastomeric articles using the systems and devices ofthe present disclosure. In certain aspects, the method can includeforming an elastomeric glove on the surface of a glove mold, strippingthe formed glove from the surface of the mold, inverting the glove,mounting the glove on a glove donning device, and subjecting the gloveto one or more secondary processes while the glove is mounted on theglove donning device.

In certain aspects, the method can include rolling down a portion of thecuff of a glove formed on a mold, positioning a gripping member on theexposed portion of the cuff-forming surface of the mold, and unrollingthe rolled portion of the glove cuff onto the gripping member such thatthe gripping member is interposed between the mold surface and at leasta portion of the unrolled glove cuff. The method can include lifting thegripping member away from the mold surface to separate a portion of theglove cuff from the mold surface, and moving the gripping memberdistally away from the mold base and beyond the finger area of theglove, thereby peeling the glove away from the mold surface and at leastpartially inverting the formed glove.

In certain aspects, the method can include positioning the invertedglove about mandrel of the glove donning device one or more gloveholding members of a glove donning device such that the surface of theglove that was formed adjacent to the mold surface becomes the exteriorsurface of the glove when it is positioned about the glove donningdevice. The method can include expanding the mandrel to engage theinterior surface of the glove, thereby holding the glove securely on theglove donning device. The method can include releasing the grippedportion of the glove when the glove is positioned about the glovedonning device such that the glove is fully mounted on the glove donningdevice. The method can include subjecting the glove to one or moresecondary processes while the glove is mounted on the glove donningdevice.

Any feature, structure, or step disclosed herein can be replaced with orcombined with any other feature, structure, or step disclosed herein, oromitted. Further, for purposes of summarizing the disclosure, certainaspects, advantages, and features of the systems, devices, and methodshave been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarilyany or all such advantages are achieved in accordance with anyparticular embodiments disclosed herein. No individual aspects of thisdisclosure are essential or indispensable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Embodiments of the present disclosure are described by way of followingdrawings pointing out various details of the systems, devices andmethods of the present disclosure. The main features and advantages ofthe present disclosure will be better understood with the followingdescriptions, claims, and drawings, where:

FIG. 1 illustrates a front partial cross-sectional view of elastomericglove molds and mold holding fixtures coupled to a conveyor chain in acontinuous dip forming process loop.

FIG. 2 illustrates a top view of the continuous dip forming process loopof FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3A-3I illustrate various stages of the transfer process accordingto certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the transfer system according tocertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a front partial cross-sectional view of the transfersystem of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates a front view of a glove stripping device according tocertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a side view of the glove stripping device of FIG. 6.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate front and side views, respectively, of aglove stripping device according to certain other aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 9 and 10 illustrate top and side views, respectively, of thetransfer system along the transfer path according to certain aspects ofthe present disclosure.

FIGS. 11A-11D illustrate a glove donning device in expanded andretracted states according to certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 12-15 illustrate various glove donning devices according tocertain other aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below, in connection with theappended drawings, is intended as a description of variousconfigurations and is not intended to represent the only configurationsin which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detaileddescription includes specific details for the purpose of providing athorough understanding of the various concepts. However, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that these concepts may bepracticed without these specific details.

Various aspects of the systems and devices disclosed herein may beillustrated by describing components that are connected, coupled,attached, bonded and/or joined together. As used herein, the terms“connected”, “coupled”, “attached”, “bonded” and/or “joined” are usedinterchangeably to indicate either a direct connection between twocomponents or, where appropriate, an indirect connection to one anotherthrough intervening or intermediate components. Additionally, unlessotherwise specified, these terms are used interchangeably to indicate aconnection in which one or more degrees of freedom are not rigidlyconstrained between two components (e.g., a pivoting connection, atranslating connection, a pivoting and translating connection, anelastic connection, a flexible connection, etc.), or a rigid orsubstantially rigid connection in which all degrees of freedom areconstrained or substantially constrained between the two components.

Relative terms such as “lower” or “bottom”, “upper” or “top”, and“vertical” or “horizontal” may be used herein to describe one element'srelationship to another element illustrated in the drawings. It will beunderstood that relative terms are intended to encompass differentorientations of the systems and devices in addition to the orientationdepicted in the drawings. By way of example, if aspects of a glovestripping, reversing, donning, and holding system as shown in thedrawings are turned over, elements described as being on the “bottom”side of the other element would then be oriented on the “top” side ofthe other elements as shown in the relevant drawing. The term “bottom”can therefore encompass both an orientation of “bottom” and “top”depending on the particular orientation of the drawing.

Reference will now be made to figures wherein like structures areprovided with like reference designations. It should be understood thatthe figures are diagrammatic and schematic representations of exemplaryembodiments of the systems and methods of the present disclosure, andare neither limiting nor necessarily drawn to scale.

One exemplary embodiment of the glove stripping, reversing and wearingsystem of the present disclosure is implemented in conjunction with acontinuous dip forming platform that includes a looped conveyor chain11, as illustrated in FIGS. 1-2. The conveyor chain 11 is supported byroller bearings that run along a channeled bearing surface 14. One ormore drive units, such as an electric motor and appropriate gearing, arecoupled to one or more chain sprockets to drive the conveyor chain 11through the continuous dipping process loop. Opposing pairs of mountingshafts 15 are coupled to the conveyor chain 11 at regular intervals andextend horizontally outwardly from the conveyor chain. A mold holdingfixture 18 is coupled to the distal end of each shaft 15. Each moldholding fixture 18 includes a rotatable mold mount 19 for holding themolds 20 such that each mold may be selectively rotated about itslongitudinal axis. As shown in FIG. 1, each mounting shaft 15 includes apivot 16 so that the molds may be oriented horizontally or vertically(i.e., hung down from the mounting shaft), as desired, for example, tofacilitate dipping. The mold mount 19 includes one or more bearingsurfaces 17 a, 17 b (which may be rolling, sliding, etc.) and/orrotational guide surfaces, such as a “D” shaped collar (not shown), forguiding and maneuvering the mold 20 through the various processes alongthe dip forming line.

The conveyor chain 11 typically carries the molds 20 at a constantlinear speed throughout the various stages of the dipping process.However, the preferred linear speed may be varied, for example, toadjust dipping or cure times, or otherwise process the glovesdifferently to accommodate various types of gloves, different formingmaterials, or varying thicknesses, or to achieve certain physicalcharacteristics, etc. Suitable conveyor chain speeds typically may rangefrom about 40 linear feet per minute to about 60 linear feet per minute.

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, a thin film elastomeric glove 30 includes acuff area 32, a wrist area 34, a thumb area 35, a palm area 36, and afinger area 38. Prior to the beginning of the glove stripping,reversing, and wearing process (which is also referred to as thetransfer process) described in detail below, the glove 30 has beenformed on the surface 22 of the mold 20 (which is also referred to as aformer) by a suitable forming process, such as a continuous dipping lineprocess, and the glove rests on the mold surface 22. The glove 30 mayalso have been subjected to one or more post-forming processes along thecontinuous dipping line. It should be understood that any process may beused to coat or treat the external layer of the thin film to form thedonning layer, such as dipping, spraying, immersion, vapor deposition,printing, or any other suitable technique. Alternatively, the donninglayer can be formed off-line by similar techniques apparent to those ofordinary skill in the art.

The following description is intended to provide an overview of thetransfer process, however, one exemplary embodiment of the transferprocess will be described with greater detail in conjunction with thebelow description of the exemplary embodiments of the systems anddevices provided to accomplish the transfer process. Referring to FIGS.3-4, the transfer process generally involves gripping the cuff portionof the glove and pulling or peeling the glove away from the mold surfaceby pulling the cuff portion toward, and then distally of, the fingerarea. Adhesion of the glove to the mold surface causes the glove toinvert (i.e., turn inside-out) as the glove is peeled from the mold. Thegripped cuff area is pulled over a cantilevered end of a donning devicemandrel positioned distally of the mold such that the inverted glovesurrounds a portion of the mandrel (i.e., the donning device mandrel“wears” the glove). When the glove has been fully released from the moldsurface and is positioned about the mandrel, the device expands orseparates to engage the interior surface of the inverted glove andsecurely hold the glove in place on the donning device mandrel. Thegripped cuff area is then forced away from the grippers by an externalforce (such as a burst of air or jet of water) or otherwise releasedfrom the grippers so that the inverted glove is fully held or worn onthe donning device mandrel. The donning device is coupled to a secondconveyor chain that carries the glove through secondary processes as itis securely held on the donning device.

FIGS. 1-13 illustrate exemplary embodiments of the various devices thatmay be implemented to accomplish the transfer process described above.These devices include a cuff roll-down device 40 as illustrated in FIG.4, a gripping, lifting, and pulling apparatus (i.e., a glove strippingdevice 40), as illustrated in FIGS. 6-7, and a glove receiving andholding device (i.e., a glove donning device 100), as illustrated inFIG. 11.

To initiate the transfer process, the cuff edge 31, which is typicallybeaded, is rolled down toward the wrist area 34 by a cuff roll downdevice 40, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 4. In this embodiment,the cuff roll-down device 40 includes a cylindrical brush 42 coupled toa rotary shaft 43, which is supported at opposite ends by rotarybearings 44 a, 44 b. A drive shaft 46 of an electric motor 47 is coupledto the rotary shaft 43 by a drive belt 49 to rotate the brush 42. Themotor 47 drives the cylindrical brush 42 to rotate about an axisparallel to the direction of travel of the conveyor chain 11. As eachmold 30 traverses down the length of the brush 42, it is rotated aboutits longitudinal axis such that each portion of the glove cuff edge 31engages with the brush bristles 41, which cause the cuff edge 42 to rolldown toward the wrist area 34 of the glove 30. As the cuff area 32 isrolled down, a portion 37 of the cuff area of the mold surface 22 isexposed. Although a cylindrical brush is illustrated in this embodiment,it will be appreciated by ordinarily skilled artisans that the cuff area32 may be rolled, folded, lifted, or otherwise forced away from the moldsurface by any suitable mechanism, such as by forced air or water, or bya solid or foam surface roller. In certain embodiments, separate cuffrolling devices may be configured to roll the cuff down while the cuffrolling devices move along a separate continuous loop (in a similarmanner as described below with respect to the glove stripping devices),to synchronize with the motion of the glove molds as the device rollsdown the cuff edge.

After the cuff edge 31 is rolled down, the mold 20 and glove 30 enter atransfer path 14 of the transfer system 10, as shown in FIG. 4. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, the transfer system 10 includes a plurality ofglove stripping devices 50 each of which is slidably coupled to a pairof linear guide rails 52 that are connected at opposite ends to a pairof transfer system conveyor chains 51 a, 51 b. Additionally, anactuation device 140 is coupled to each pair of linear guide rails 52and serves to compress the glove donning device mandrel arms 72, 73prior to receiving the inverted glove 30. The transfer system conveyorchains 51 a, 51 b are synchronized with gears and/or sprockets 55 andchains 56 to move the glove stripping devices 50 along the transfer path14 in synchronization with the molds 20 travelling along a portion ofthe main dipping line path 64. After the glove stripping devices 50 havepassed through the transfer path 14, the transfer system conveyor chains51 a, 51 b carry them along a return path 62 and back to the beginningof the transfer path 14.

Upon entering the transfer path 14, the glove mold 20 is lowered betweena pair of opposing mechanical arms 57, 58 of the glove stripping device50, as illustrated in FIG. 4. The glove stripping device 50 includes acarriage body 80 to which the lower ends of the mechanical arms 57, 58are pivotably coupled. Links 82, 83 are pivotably coupled to centralportions of the arms 57, 58, and to an upper end of a push rod 84. Thepush rod 84 is slidably coupled to the carriage body 80 such that thepush rod 84 may translate vertically up and down. As the push rod israised from a lower to an upper position, the links 82, 83 pivot andpush the mechanical arms away from each other to an open state as shownin FIG. 6. Tension springs 85 are coupled to the push rod 84 and thecarriage body 80 so as to bias the push rod 84 downward. An additionaltension spring 87 is coupled to central portions of the mechanical arms57, 58 so as to bias the arms toward each other (i.e., toward a closedposition) to form a better grip with the bare mold and to accommodatedifferent sizes of molds (such as different molds that are used to usedto form different sized gloves).

The carriage body 80 of the glove stripping device 50 is slidablymounted to a pair of the linear guide rails 52 via linear guide railbearings 53. A horizontal cam follower bearing 92 is coupled to a rod 81extending below the carriage body 80 The horizontal cam follower bearing92 is configured to roll along a horizontal cam track 93 extending alongthe transfer path 14. The horizontal cam track 93 is profiled, asillustrated in FIG. 9, to cause the glove stripping device 50 totranslate along the linear guide rails 52 from a position proximal tothe glove mold base 21 to a position distal of the glove mold fingerarea 38 during the transfer process. The glove stripping device 50 alsoincludes a vertical cam follower bearing 94 coupled to a lower end ofthe push rod 84. During the transfer process, the vertical cam followerbearing 94 rolls along a vertical cam track 95 extending along thetransfer path 14. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the cam track 95 isprofiled to raise and lower the cam follower bearing 94 and the push rod84 thus opening and closing the mechanical arms 57, 58 as the glovestripping device 50 travels along the transfer path 14.

Before the glove mold 20 is lowered between the mechanical arms 57, 58,the vertical cam track profile causes the push rod 84 to rise upward,which increases tension in the springs 85, 87, and causes the mechanicalarms 57, 58 to move to an open position as shown in FIG. 10. After theglove mold is positioned between the mechanical arms 57, 58 at thebeginning of the transfer path 14, the vertical cam track profile islowered, thus allowing the springs 85, 87 to pull the mechanical arms57, 58 together until the gripping members 86, 88 rest on the portion ofthe mold surface that was exposed when the cuff edge 31 was rolled down(i.e., the surface of the mold where the rolled cuff portion of theglove originally rested). Although FIGS. 6-7 illustrate one grippingmember coupled to each of the mechanical arms ordinarily skilledartisans will appreciate that any number of gripping members may be usedin any suitable configuration to facilitate gripping, lifting, andremoval of the glove from the mold surface. For example, FIGS. 8A-B.illustrate an embodiment that includes two gripping members coupled toeach arm 57, 58. Similarly, although the glove stripping device 50 ofthe present embodiment is illustrated with two mechanical arms, it willbe appreciated that any number of arms may be used in any suitableconfiguration. The gripping members may be formed of any suitablematerial known in the art. In an exemplary embodiment, the grippers maybe formed of a rubber or plastic material to conform to the surface ofthe mold and to more easily grip the material of the glove. Ridges orother suitable contours may be formed on the glove engaging surface ofthe gripping members to assist in preventing the glove from slipping offof the gripping members.

When the gripping members 86, 88 are positioned against the mold 20, asshown in FIG. 3C, the rolled portion 32 of the thin film glove isunrolled, pushed or otherwise urged back proximally toward the mold base21 by a force (for example, by means of one or more pressurized airnozzles 96 or water jets). The force used to unroll the rolled cuffportion 32 causes the cuff 32 to lay over the gripping members 86, 88such that at least a portion of the gripping members 86, 88 isinterposed between the unrolled cuff portion 32 and the mold surface 22,as illustrated in FIG. 3D.

The air nozzles 96 or water jets may be mounted on stationary equipmentabove and/or below the transfer path 14 in suitable proximity andorientation to direct a burst of air or jet of water toward the rolledcuff edge 31 as it passes by. The air nozzles or water jets may beconnected by tubing or hoses to a source, for example an air compressorand reservoir tank positioned near the transfer system or a centralpressurized air supply line system. Air or water may be continuouslydispened, or more preferably is controlled by mechanical or solenoidvalves or other suitable fluid control devices to deliver intermittentbursts sufficient to roll back the cuffs. The timing of the bursts maybe synchronized or controlled by various known devices and methods. Forexample, timing may be controlled with the aid of electronic sensors(such as optical, magnetic, or sonic sensors), or by a mechanical switchthat is triggered by mechanical contact with a portion of each passingmold (or other moving equipment associated with each glove). In certainembodiments, a brush or solid surface cylindrical roller may also beused in lieu of, or in addition to, an air nozzle, water jet, etc.

After the cuff 32 has been rolled back and is laying over the grippingmembers 86, 88, the gripping members are moved to an open position (byraising the push rod 84 via the vertical cam track profile 95) to expand(i.e., separate) the gripping members 86, 88 and thereby lift the glovecuff area 32 away from the mold surface 22. After the gripping members86, 88 are lifted from the mold surface 22, the horizontal cam track 93causes the glove stripping device 50 (and thus the gripping members 86,88) to translate distally toward the finger area 38 of the glove 30,thereby pulling or peeling the glove off of, and away from, the moldsurface 22 as illustrated in FIG. 3E.

One or more bursts of air or water jets may be directed at the glove tohelp urge the glove film away from the mold surface. In the exemplaryembodiment illustrated in FIG. 3F, a burst of air is directed into apocket 97 formed generally between the portion 99 of the glove that hasbeen peeled off of the mold 20 and the portion of the glove that remainson the mold surface 22. The temporarily increased air pressure insidethe pocket 97 causes the peeled off portion 99 to balloon radiallyoutward from the mold surface 22, thus momentarily increasing theradially outward component of tensile force acting at the peel seam 9 tohelp release the thumb area 35 and palm area 36 from the mold surface22.

As the gripping members 86, 88 move distally beyond the finger area 38of the mold 20 (as illustrated in FIG. 3F), the distal portions of theglove 30 initially remain adhered to the mold surface 22, thus causingthe glove to become inverted as the cuff edge 31 is pulled distally ofthe finger area 38. The gripping members 86, 88 pull the glove 30 onto amandrel 110 of the glove donning device 100, as shown in FIG. 3G. Whenthe gripping members 86, 88 reach a predetermined position, the glovedonning device 100 expands or separates portions of the mandrel 110 totension to the glove to hold it firmly on the mandrel 110. The glovecuff 32 is then released from the gripping members 86, 88, for example,by a burst of air directed into the pocket 109 generally formed betweenthe gripped portion 39 of the glove cuff 32 and the exterior surface ofthe portion of the glove held by the mandrel 110, such that the invertedglove 30 is fully mounted on the glove donning device 100. Optionally,another burst of air may be directed into the interior of the invertedglove (e.g., through the cuff opening 27 between the mandrel arms 57,58, or through a channel routed through the interior of the mandrel armsto an exit port positioned at a distal portion of the mandrel arms) totemporarily inflate the inverted glove to ensure that it is fullyinverted when mounted on the glove donning device.

The glove donning device 100 of this exemplary embodiment includes abase 120 having a mounting portion 122 at a proximal end, and a mandrelportion 110 comprising two mandrel arms 112, 114 extending distally fromthe base 120 along a longitudinal axis of the glove donning device 100,as illustrated in FIGS. 11A-D. The mandrel arms 112, 114 are slidablycoupled to the base 120 such that the arms can move toward and away fromeach other in a horizontal plane. In other words, the mandrel portion110 can expand and retract in a horizontal direction transverse to thelongitudinal axis of the mandrel 100 by sliding the mandrel arms 112,114 away from each other and toward each other, respectively. Themandrel arms 112, 114 are retained in the base by retention pins 116,118 inserted into bores 117, 119 in the proximal surfaces 121, 123 ofthe arms 112, 114. The retention pin heads 116, 118 are slidablydisposed in pin slots 124, 125 provided at the proximal end of the base120. Springs 126, 127 are disposed between opposing interior-facingsurfaces 128, 129 of the mandrel arms 112, 114 and opposite sides of aninterior central wall 115 of the base 120. The springs 126, 127 arenormally compressed to bias the mandrel arms 112, 114 toward a fullyexpanded state, as shown in FIGS. 11C-D. The glove donning device 100 iscoupled via a holding device 113 (e.g., a device similar to the moldholders) to a secondary conveyor chain, which carries it (and otherglove donning devices 100) and the inverted glove 30 received thereonthrough one or more on-line secondary processes.

Near the beginning of the transfer path, the glove donning device 100(in the expanded state) is lowered between a pair of mechanicalactuation arms 142, 144 of an actuation device 140. The actuation arms142, 144 are pulled toward each other to push or compress the mandrelarms 112, 114 toward each other to a retracted state. When the actuationarms 142, 144 are separated, the springs 126, 127 of the glove donningdevice 100 force the mandrel arms 112, 114 away from each other, thusreturning the mandrel arms to the expanded state. Similar to the glovestripping device 50, the actuation device 140 includes a carriage body180 to which the lower ends of the actuation arms 142, 144 are pivotablycoupled. Links 182, 183 are pivotally coupled to central portions of thearms 142, 144 and to an upper end of a push rod 184. The push rod 184 isslidably coupled to the carriage body 180 such that the push rod 184 maytranslate vertically up and down. As the push rod 184 is lowered from araised or closed state, the links 182, 183 pivot and pull the mechanicalarms toward each other to a closed position as shown in FIG. 10. Theactuation device 140 also includes a vertical cam follower bearing 194coupled to a lower end of the push rod 184. During the transfer process,the vertical cam follower bearing 194 rolls along a cam track 195extending along the transfer path 14. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the camtrack 195 is profiled so as to raise and lower the cam follower bearing194 and the push rod 184, and therefore open and close the actuationarms 142, 144, as the actuation device travels along the transfer path14.

It will be appreciated that the principles and concepts of the presentdisclosure that are embodied in the foregoing examples may also beimplemented in various structural and functional equivalent embodiments,some examples of which are described as follows. An alternativeembodiment of the glove donning device is illustrated in FIG. 12. Inthis embodiment, the glove donning device 200 includes a mandrel shaft210 extending from the holding device 213 to a distal end 219, a shaftcollar 235 is rigidly coupled to a middle portion of the mandrel shaft.Mechanical arms 212, 214 are pivotably coupled at one end to the shaftcollar 235 and at another end to arcuate cowl segments 236, 237. Links282, 284 are pivotably coupled to middle portions of the arms 212, 214and to a carriage 280 slidably coupled to the shaft 210 proximally ofthe shaft collar 235. As the carriage 280 is translated along the shaft210 toward the shaft collar 235, the links 282, 284 pivot and push themechanical arms 212, 214, 216 radially outward from the shaft to anexpanded position wherein the cowl segments 236, 237 may engage theinterior surface of an inverted glove. Conversely, as the carriage 280is moved proximally, the mechanical arms retract radially inward towardthe shaft 210 to a retracted position. A coil spring 285, retained aboutthe shaft 210 between the carriage 280 and the holding device 213, isnormally compressed so as to urge the carriage 280 distally to theexpanded position. A cam follower bearing 294 and cam surface (notshown) serve to control movement of the carriage and thus the mechanicalarms between expanded and retracted positions.

In certain embodiments, as illustrated in FIG. 13, the glove donningdevice 300 includes mechanical plates 312, 314 rather than mandrel arms.The mechanical plates 312, 314 are generally oriented along horizontalplanes, and are controlled by a cam follower bearing 394 and cam surfaceprofile (not shown) to expand away from each other in a verticaldirection to engage the palm 336 and back of hand 337 portions of theinverted glove 330. In certain other embodiments, as illustrated in FIG.14, the glove donning device 400 includes a mandrel member 410 aboutwhich the glove 430 is positioned, and includes a scissor-typearrangement of pincher arms 412, 414 that may be controlled to engageopposing portions of the exterior surface 422 of the cuff area 432 ofthe inverted glove 430 to firmly hold the glove between the pincher arms412, 414 and the mandrel 410.

In certain other embodiments, As shown in FIG. 15, the glove donningdevice 500 includes an inflatable bladder 520 coupled to a mandrel shaft510. Air, water, or other suitable fluid may be supplied to the interiorof the bladder through a lumen in the mandrel shaft 510 to inflate andexpand the bladder to engage the interior surface of an inverted glove530 positioned about the bladder 520. The bladder 520 may be constructedof any suitable material that is flexible, durable, and gas or fluidimpervious, such as a flexible polymer, vulcanized rubber, etc.

The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled inthe art to practice the various example implementations describedherein. Various modifications to these variations will be readilyapparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles definedherein may be applied to other implementations. All structural andfunctional equivalents to the elements of the various illustriousexamples described throughout this disclosure that are known or latercome to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference.

1. A method for stripping and inverting an elastomeric article from a mold with a stripping and inverting mechanism and re-donning the elastomeric article on a second mechanism for secondary online processing.
 2. A method for stripping and inverting an elastomeric article of claim 1; wherein the stripping and inverting mechanism comprises a stripping apparatus that comprises a cuff rolling device and a roll-back device.
 3. A method for stripping and inverting an elastomeric article of claim 1, wherein the second mechanism comprises a donning device; and wherein the donning device comprises at least one mandrel.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mold is a former.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein stripping and inverting mechanism comprises a stripping device.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the stripping device comprises at least one mechanical arm.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the stripping device comprises at least two mechanical arms.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the stripping device comprises one or more gripping members.
 9. The method of claim 2, wherein the stripping apparatus comprises a lifting device.
 10. The method of claim 2, wherein the stripping apparatus comprises an actuation device.
 11. The method of claim 3, wherein the mandrel has at least one holding member.
 12. The method of claim 2, wherein the roll-back device of the system further comprises air nozzles. 